Strawberry Shortcake had been a hot fad in my younger days. I have this old doll, which my dad bought when I did well for my exams in Primary 1.

So that makes it 26 years old!!! It's still kept in v good condition.. only thing missing is the smell of strawberries :)

On a beautiful Sunday morning, BB Arianne 李欣颖, my third bb was born on 20th April 2008.

Time of birth: 0441am
Length: 51cm

Weight: 3155g

Place of birth: Thomson Medical Clinic

Arianne was induced at 1150pm on Wed night as she was due and gynae saw no reason to keep her inside me anymore. Furthermore, I was having painful contractions though not very regular. Cervix was already 3cm dialated when gynae did the check before breaking the waterbag. 3 hours into labour, bb heartbeat was dropping. I had to rely on Oxygen to keep her going strong. She had to come out v soon or her life would be in danger. We found that her umbylical cord had twined round her neck causing the drop in heartbeat. Fearing for her safety, i had to push as hard as I could....finally at 441am, i could hear her cries.... strong loud cries.... Thank God.

Thinking of a name was a v difficult task. I wanted something close to our hearts which Fiona and Aaron can relate to.

Finally, I chanced upon this name - Arianne. An 'A' rhymes with Brother Aaron and 'Anne' is a baptism name which Fiona and I share. Arianne, mummy hopes u like the name which we have chosen for u.

Vivo City

Fiona enjoying herself in the wet playground

Animal Resort

(Left: Fiona, Aaron and KH feeding the fishes in the pond of Animal Resorts

Right: Aaron feeding the rabbits with carrots)

Weekends are dedicated to our kids. We usually bring them to places which we think they would enjoy.

Animal Resorts was fun! Aaron enjoyed it v much. Initially he was fearful of the goats when they approached him for the food. But later on, he warmed up and bought more than 5 packets of carrots and bread for them!!! Fiona, however, was a bit scared and did not feed the animals. Instead, she was enjoying herself at the fish pond feeding the coils.

Grandpa, Zo-gong, u have chosen to leave us in the midst of the Lunar New Year. It's hard to understand why u have to go but I know it is best for u. No more suffering, no more pain.
Thank u for all the years of guidance. Thank u for looking after me during the first 5 most tender years of my life. Thank u for sharing our joy of marriage and birth of the 2 dearies. At your death bed, u worried abt us not being able to cope financially with 3. Grandpa, I assure u everything is well within control. God has provided us in abundance.

CNY was celebrated with mixed feelings. On one hand, the Chinese spirit of joy and togetherness and the beginning of a new lunar year is something which all of us love to experience. The kids love the Mickey Mouse Ang Pows which they have been getting.

On the other hand, grandpa (or the kids' great grandpa aka zhou2-gong1) was v unwell and on day two, had to be sent to the hospital. His heath was deteriorating away. Sad to say, I know it's gonna be a last CNY with him. Deep down inside is a feeling of sadness and lost.

My wish for grandpa is for God's spirit and strength to be with him.

Mel invited us to her home for a gathering n lao yu sheng n pineapple tart making session. Some photos uploaded.

It has never been easy gathering all 4 of us together for a photo. In fact, the number of photos we have taken as a family is really rare. Today, I have specially arranged for a shoot at at 11am, hoping it does not clash with Fiona's sleeping time. Fiona had diarrhoea just before we set off fr home. She stained the pretty little batik dress which we had dressed her in:( At the studio, it was a difficult and most challenging task getting Fiona to smile at the camera. Usually, she does not smile readily, much less for this occassion. After an hr, she was cranky and kept pointing to the exit.

Despite the struggle, we managed to have quite a few nice poses fr her. Good girl, Fiona. Aaron was easier. He was the darling of every camera man, except for his habit to stick out his tongue during shoots :p

Till the next photo shoot ... probably after the birth of our bb girl.

A lovely and happy family ...that's all I ask for.

Sometimes I wonder if having a third kid is a good thing. I dont really want to announce my third pregnancy. Is it a proud thing to be pregnant again?
People look at me and say ..har? Pregnant again? Wow! So supportive of the government policy ar? What sort of supportive friend or relative u r. Frankly, i dont care a hack what govt policy there is. The policy doesnt save me much more than the incremental cost it will cost me. It really hurts to hear such remarks fr pp around me.
I want to have a no 3 and left it for God to decide.... God decided that it's better I have her earlier than what I agreed to be a "good gap". Is 22 mths age gap really that close? Is God wrong?
Do they know how difficult it is to go thru the 9 mths of pregnancy and the effort required to raise the child? Do they know how much joy a child can give?
Maybe I am just too sensitive. Blame it on the pregnancy hormones.
Thankfully God sent me a mentor in time and I am thankful for the counselling me that being pregnant again is a blessing.

Nana is learning to speak. She could follow our sentences to talk. Today, Nana suddenly blurt out a 3 word sentence .... "Go Away Girlie" .... haha .... after that, she pushed Girlie away to open the drawer to get her spoon.

These 2 weeks, Nana became more authoritative and demanding.... i'm wondering if she's starting to show signs of The Terrible Two Stage! When she's not happy, she screams and rolls on the floor or demand that I carry her. It's really a tough stage for me trying to cope with her demands and being in the second stage of pregnancy. Hopefully, she outgrows this stage soon.

Fiona @ 18 mths

1.5 yrs have passed since the birth of Fiona. In the recent few weeks, we noted that she has grown quite a fair bit and is picking up fast in terms of speech.

Weight:
13kg
Words in Fiona's vocab:
Daddy, Mummy, Kor kor, Ah Mah, milk, wet, ball, star, baby, hot, poo, ear, hair, nose, neck, ear, hand, teeth, mouth, hat, bite, bit, kick, car, one, two, three, four, five, light, bag, straw, mouse, pig, dog, bear, thank you, please, open, up, Elmo ...
What she calls herself:
"Nana"
Fiona could name the parts of her body and point to the correct part when asked:
Hair, head,hand, neck, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, belly button, butt
Chinese phrase:
Wo-Ai-Ni
Favourite songs:
Row Row Row Your Boat
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
When i recite TTLS, she could remember the last word of the sentence:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Fiona says "Star"
How I wonder what you Fiona says "Are"
Up Above the word so Fiona says "High"
Like a diamond in the Fiona says "Sky"
Twinkle Twinkle Little Fiona says "Star"
How I wonder what you Fiona says "Are"
Barney is a Dinosaur